Tax planning following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
This column discusses advising clients on the implications for choice-of-entity decisions, charitable giving strategies, and estate, retirement, and higher education planning.
Personal Financial Planning
Counterintuitive tax planning: Increasing taxable scholarship income to reduce taxes
This article discusses the potential benefit of choosing to include scholarships or grants in income.
Current U.S. tax incentives for higher education expenses
This article examines the requirements and limitations taxpayers face when seeking benefits of significant education-related income tax provisions.
Divorce and taxes: Hidden traps and your map around them
CPAs are in a key position to assess tax implications of property divisions and must consider professional responsibility standards if the ex-spouses both want to remain clients.
The CPA’s role in advising clients about the value of life insurance assets
Life insurance can be a surprisingly valuable hidden asset for clients who are retired.
Managing tax brackets in retirement
A tax adviser can help a client smooth out the high-income-tax peaks and the corresponding lower-tax-bracket years with an effective bracket-management strategy.
Advantages of a one-person 401(k) plan
These plans can allow a large amount to be contributed on behalf of the owner while maintaining flexibility in making contributions in future years.
Budgeting for realized gains
Disciplined planning for realizing gains lessens the potential for unanticipated taxes or ugly year-end surprises.
Federal retirement savings plan ended
Due to “extremely low” demand and high costs, the Treasury Department announced that it is ending the myRA retirement savings program.
Dispelling uncertainty: Scenario analysis for client security
A range of economic, political, personal, and other uncertainties can lead to clients having deep-seated fears about doing any one thing.
Uncompensated risk: The orphan of modern portfolio theory
Most fiduciaries breach a fiduciary duty simply because they ignore or neglect to follow the stated legal requirements for uncompensated risk management.
A new tax-efficient approach to protecting unrealized gains
A stock protection fund may be helpful to some investors.
Building on Compliance: The Evolution of Tax Services
Members of the public also recognize a CPA’s role as a trusted adviser for all their financial needs.
Reexamining tax-loss harvesting: Better results through enhanced understanding
Tax-loss harvesting offers the potential for significantly increased after-tax returns.
Tax Planning for Aging Clients: Medical Expense Deduction for Home Improvements
Many clients making modifications to make homes more accessible may qualify for valuable home improvement medical expense deductions.
The Illiquid Marital Estate: Navigating the Division of Marital Residences and Retirement Accounts
This item focuses on the pitfalls and potential opportunities to consider in the illiquid marital estate arena.
Lump-Sum Distributions of Employer Stock Present Opportunities
When a qualified retirement plan account holds employer stock, a retirement plan participant could save thousands of dollars with proper planning.
Tax Planning Opportunities for Tax Attributes and the Decedent’s Final Tax Return
Careful and thoughtful advanced planning can result in substantial tax savings.
Deciding Whether to Roll Over to a Roth IRA
Deciding whether it makes sense to trigger the resulting tax liability depends on several factors.
Form 8332 Challenges for Divorced Couples
When parents divorce without a meeting of the minds or a well-crafted agreement, issues can result as to who is entitled to the tax benefits from supporting their children.
